The Fear Effect Interview

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We sit down with Kronos' president in a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Fear Effect.

By IGN Staff

While everybody and their 90-year-old grandpa appears to love the Resident Evil series, after three games on the PlayStation and an upcoming Dreamcast version, the series' fate appears to be taking the same predictable route as Street Fighter. Another version comes out, it's slightly tweaked, another version, slightly tweaked, and so on; you know the pattern. Whether Capcom knows it or not, the rest of the world has caught on to the adventure series concept, and is now bringing it into unforeseen realms.

Enter Fear Effect. Kronos Studios' first PlayStation adventure game takes the Resident Evil formula and turns in on its head. Gamers switch between three different characters throughout; the game streams data straight from the disc, creating a bustling atmosphere of interactivity; and the story takes players to places they've never been in a game -- luxurious urban brothels, Eastern jungles, and a frighteningly beautiful version of Chinese Hell. After finishing the game this last weekend, I can truly say that Kronos has brought gamers something unique, engaging, and that can stand on its own.

But that wasn't always the case. Stanley Liu, who started the company back in 1994, has hit his share of bumps along the road to success. Liu attended the Art Center in Southern California and after graduation, began teaching there part time. Soon, he was working on cinematic effects with Alias WaveFront, and pulling in contract work with companies like Sierra (Phantasmagoria), Origin (Wing Commander), 3DO, and others, trying get into a foothold into the new technology doorway. Finally, the company landed its first full game, the PC title Meat Puppet. In the following years, Kronos followed with less than stellar games, Criticom, Dark Rift, and Cardinal Syn.

I spoke with Kronos' President Stanley Liu last week to discuss what went into creating Fear Effect, what were some of the major principles that guided the project, the strong influence of Chinese mythology in the story, and whether the game has a future of next-generation systems.

IGNPSX: Why did you choose to use anime for this game? What features do you think anime has that a fully polygonal environment with realistic characters doesn't that are beneficial to playing?

Stanley Liu: The idea of using anime style characters came from our director John Platten. Early on, we tried putting traditional 3D characters against our backgrounds; we immediately noticed how easily they got lost within the lush, non-static worlds. Furthermore, the lower poly character models lacked detail when compared to the highly illustrative backgrounds. I was also steadfast on having characters that stayed constant throughout gameplay and cinematics. After a series of tests with different type of modeling and texture mapping techniques, we concluded that the strong graphic look of anime contrasted nicely against the streaming backgrounds, at the same time, it allowed us to use the exact same model for both cinematics and gameplay.

IGNPSX: What were some of the gameplay principles you created to develop this game? Like, for instance, did you try to keep fights in a single room, or did you try to implement a variety of puzzles of a certain nature?

Stan: Hmm...There is one principle that I was adamant on throughout the development of Fear Effect, and that is "content should take precedence above all else." I personally believe that technology is a commodity, game engines can be bought, and programming techniques can be learned or borrowed. Art is a matter of taste, either you like it or you don't. Design is a matter of opinion, some people prefer "Street Fighters" while others "Tekken." Eventually, every single system out there will be able to do all the same amazing things. Art, technology and design are all just parts of the solution. At the end of the day, the one true thing that will separate a good game from a bad one is the content; the experience that the player is left with once they finished the game. Good content requires the masterful combination of art, technology and design. When we designed the gameplay for Fear Effect, we took a chance by throwing away all notions of traditional rules and started from a clean slate. In Fear Effect, the story was our main focus. We designed the gameplay to support the unfolding of the story. All combat and puzzles were premeditated and placed because the story required those elements in those specific points along the plot. We tried our best to ensure the puzzles were logical and sensible to the situation. We didn't design your typical busy work puzzles that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Combat was designed to create tension and challenge along the way. Once everything was in place, we then carefully addressed each scenario to make sure the pacing of the experience was balanced.

IGNPSX: Why did you choose, for instance, the weapons, you did? I mean, a smackjack is kinda cool, but why did you skip the standard rocket launchers or flame-throwers?

Stan: The hand-to-hand weapons were chosen to accentuate the individual characteristics of our team. The large caliber auto weapon was placed to give the player a sense of power and supremacy in specific situations (although in some cases, we wanted to give the player a false sense of security). The smaller pistols were given to the player early on to make them feel confident yet vulnerable at the same time.

IGNPSX: You use three central characters in Fear Effect, Deke, Glas, and Hana. Why use three? Doesn't that dilute the player's sense of loyalty of connection with the single lead character? Or does it do the opposite?

Stan: Interesting question..... I think we wanted the player to be loyal to the story. The characters were designed to support and give diversity to the plot. Much like watching a good movie, the director will never have the audience follow only one character from the beginning to the end of the film. Usually, a diversified cast gives the story a lot more freedom to explore subplots. A good example is Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." The story (which was his main focus) was evolved around an assorted class of interesting characters. I also believe that, if there is only one main character to the game, you are running the risk that if the players don't care for that one character, you're screwed! With three characters, at least you have two more chances to screw up!

IGNPSX: Compared to almost every other Resident Evil style game available, or even every other adventure game, Fear Effect has strong Chinese influences. Why such heavy emphases on Eastern culture? What was the genesis of this story?

Stan: I was born and raised in Hong Kong, My family moved to the States when I was 16. My parents are hardcore Buddhists, however, I was sent to a British Catholic school through most of my young adult life. So I grew up with this clash of Chinese superstition and Western Catholicism in my head. I remember vividly how we had to burn offerings to our ancestors in July and make Sunday mass at the same time. The whole concept of Hell and life after death was always an interesting philosophical mind twister to me. When I came up with the concept and the back-story for Fear Effect, it was like.... therapy!!I thought it would be fun to put a bunch of "Westerners" in a Chinese hell and see what kind of buttons I can push....

IGNPSX: Can you explain how the Fear Effect "meter" works? We have explained it, and I guess not very well because we continue to get questions about its function.

Stan: The Fear Meter has two main purposes. First of all, it acts as a proximity warning, a kind of "spider sense" for the player. When the Fear Meter comes on, it usually means that there is danger nearby. Second, it tells you how calm or afraid your character is. When the player is calm, it is easier to aim and auto track multiple opponents. The more afraid you are, the worse you'll do. When you are at maximum fear, one hit from any enemy will kill you. This is all very subtle in the game. It is something you'll feel rather than notice by looking. We want the player to focus on the situation at hand, not their health bar.

IGNPSX: Why use the streaming video and audio technology?

Stan: It is only way for us to create a living world for Fear Effect. Due to hardware limitations, realtime 3D engines traditionally don't allow us to put in massive amount of details. Pre-rendered static backgrounds are cold and dead. Streaming video give us the ability to show off our artist talent in house. It gives us the freedom to create a world without restrictions. There are no limits to the kind of visual effects we can do. It also gives us the added benefit of no load time. At will, we can go from cinematic to gameplay seamlessly. Finally, we get to come up with cool names like Motion FX to describe our engine.

IGNPSX: We've heard that you have plans for a sequel/prequel? Can you tell us a little about the next game? Will it appear on PlayStation/Dreamcast/PlayStation2? Do you have PS2 Development kits? And if so, what do you think of the system? Is Kronos gearing up for the next generation, or are you still focused on PS?

Stan: If the public likes Fear Effect, I'm sure you'll be seeing a sequel/prequel. Hmm.... The next game is going to be bigger and better... It will appear on whatever Eidos wants. I personally think that the PS2 is awesome. I would love to develop on it. We are always gearing up for the next generation..... lord knows I need a new computer....

IGNPSX: What did you like in Resident Evil or other adventure games that you felt you could improve upon in Fear Effect?

Stan: I'm more a fan of the original PC version of Alone In The Dark. They had a very elegant way of creating suspense. The way they used sound or silence to emulate tension is superb. I saw "The Sixth Sense" last summer, I really enjoyed the plot twist at the end and how it made you think back at all those moments throughout the film and go....Ahhhh!!! I believe there are a lot of things we can learn from such great games and films. Good content and an interesting story will still be our main focus. However, there are a few things that I would do differently for the next game. Mostly, I would like to spend more time on developing the characters and their relationships. I would like to try putting the player into the bad guy's point of view for a change. I also would like to simplify our inventory system and I want to explore the possibility of using a different set of player controls.

IGNPSX: There is a lot of blood and violence in this game. Why did you decide to go for the more mature audience? Is it because the story required a certain amount of gore?

Stan: It's hard to tell a story about three mercenaries without having a little bloodshed. Our characters are anti-heroes and their motives are not always noble. Most of the bloody scenes with Deke were designed to show his cold-blooded nature and a few comical deaths. With Hana, her scenes were created to show her lack of emotions when it comes to killing. Glas' most bloody scene was meant to provoke fear and anger from the player. Mostly, it is because we use Alias/Wavefront software on the SGI and we have this awesome blood particle system that all our artists used everywhere in the game...

IGNPSX: Is there a nude code for seeing Hana in the brief (you know, in full)? (Laughter) How many nude scenes are there? Why isn't she nude more often?

Stan: Hmmm...NO!!! I did not know you are such a polygonal booty connoisseur, Doug!! You get to see Hana in her bare minimum quite a bit throughout the game. For me, it is more interesting to see her in different sexy outfits than it is to see her in raw exposed nakedness. We got some very interesting costumes designed for her next endeavor. Rest assured, there will be plenty left for the imagination.

IGNPSX: Well, about the booty stuff, you have to give the kids what they want, Stan, and booty is what they want. Serious booty. But that aside, I want to thank you for the interview and good luck on the success of the game. I'm looking forward to it.